Two European Islamists have been charged in Berlin with being members of Al-Qaida. Yusuf O. of Berlin and Maqsood L. from Vienna have been trained in the terror camps of Waziristan and are allegedly part of an Al-Qaida plot to carry out attacks in Europe.

Berlin Islamist Yusuf O. traveled to Pakistan in May 2009 alongside his friend Fatih T. and joined the „Taifatul Mansourah“ Group in Waziristan tribal area. Later the German Jihadi militants together with several other German Islamists who arrived in Pakistan in September 2009 founded a new group named „German Taliban Mujahidin“ (DTM).

In a propaganda tape released just prior to the September 2009 German Parliamentary Elections the DTM threatened attacks in Germany. Spokesman in that video was 26 year-old Yusuf O. aka „Abu Ayyub al-Almani“.

According to the complaint filed by German prosecutors in November Yusuf O. left the DTM somewhere around May 2010 and joined Al-Qaida. During the training program he received, Yusuf O. met Maqsood L., a 22 year-old Austrian national whose family immigrated to Vienna in the 1990s after fleeing the Taliban-rule in Afghanistan. Maqsood L´s father fought as a Afghan soldier against the Soviet invasion in the 1980s. Nearly 30 years later his son – spotting a beard – joined the Austrian military in 2008 and declared he was ready to defend the nation.

In the Waziristan terror camps of Al-Qaida Maqsood L. and Yusuf O. befriended and were choosen by Al-Qaida´s Chief of External Operational, Sheikh Younis al-Mauretani who was arrested in Pakistan back in September, to be part of a Europe attack plan.

The Al-Qaida commander tasked Yusuf O. and Maqsood L. to return to Europe and recruit Islamists for terrorist attacks in European cities. Documents discovered by German counter-terrorism officials lead to the conclusion Al-Qaida wanted the German Islamists to carry out kidnappings and killings. Al-Mauretani´s plot involved assault attacks in which hostages would be killed in long standoff with police – the „Mumbai Style“ of terrorist attacks.

In May 2011 Maqsood L. and Yusuf O. traveled to Budapest (Hungary) via Iran and Turkey. Yusuf O. made his journey to Austrian capital Vienna and arrived in the city carrying a audio tape recorded by Maqsood L.. He played the tape to Maqsood´s old friends, urging them to support the Jihad and join the terror network.

After Yusuf O. returned to Budapest he sent Maqsood L. to Berlin. Apparently Yusuf O. thought sending a foreigner instead of traveling himself would not alert the authorities. Yusuf O. was wrong. Maqsood´s task was recruit about a dozen of Yusuf´s friends from several radical mosques in the German capital. The Austrian Jihadi was able to rally supporters amongst Berlin´s Islamist community and collect about 1.000 EUROs in donations, before he was arrested on May 16.

Yusuf O. was captured a little later in Vienna where he returned to from a trip to Budapest on May 31. Austrian authorities sent him back to Germany where he and Maqsood L. will be on trial soon.

He is one of Al-Qaida´s most shadowy and mysterious figures in the Pakistani tribal areas – Sheikh Younis Mohammed al-Mauretani.

Pakistan´s military forces today announced Al-Mauretani´s arrest in a written statement, saying the North African Al-Qaida operative was captured in the city of Quetta close to the Afghan border. Along with al-Mauretani two other Arab Al-Qaida members, named Abdul Ghaffar Al Shami (Bachar Chama) and Messara Al Shami (Mujahid Amino) were arrested. No Details were given on these two men.

Sheikh Younis al-Mauretani was labeled Al-Qaida´s Chief of External Operations by the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI, holding one of the most important positions within the terrorist network. „He was planning to target United States economic interests including gas/oil pipelines, power generating dams, and strike ships/oil tankers through explosive laden speed boats in International waters“, the Pakistani ISI claims in a statement. Cooperation with the CIA led to the arrest of Al-Mauretani, the statement further explains.

Counter-terrorism officials in the USA and Pakistan believe al-Mauretani was in direct contact with Bin Laden until US Navy SEALs killed the Al-Qaida leader in May. Inside the Abbottabad compound were Bin Laden was hiding, documents were found which are confirming that al-Mauretani was the mastermind behind a 2010 terrorist plot to target European economy. A strategy paper written by Al-Mauretani suggested to hit especially economic targets in the West to harm the USA and Europe. From what is known it seems Bin Laden approved this plan and promised the financing of the terror attacks.

Most of what is known about Al-Mauretani was revealed during the interrogation of two German terror suspects arrested last year. Ahmad Wali Siddiqi and Rami Makanesi from Hamburg had traveled to the Waziristan terrorist training camps in March 2009. Both of them met Al-Mauretani in early 2010 when the Al-Qaida operative was searching for Western recruits. „Al-Qaida´s No.3 – Foreign Minister“ – Al-Mauretani introduced himself to the Jihadis from Germany.

Makanesi describes al-Mauretani as a skinny, tall person with a calm manner, well-spoken and intelligent. „What we have are planning, not even the devil has in mind“, al-Mauretani had told the German terrorists in Waziristan according to Makanesi and Siddiqi. He later outlined his „Europe Plot“ to them, telling them about his idea of striking economic targets in various European countries.

In January or February 2010 Sheikh al-Mauretani had met another German Jihadi who arrived at the Al-Qaida training camps – Abdelkarim el-K., a Moroccan who lived and studied in Düsseldorf. After returning to Germany El-K. formed a terrorist cell he became the leader of. While the group planned to obtain or produce explosives El-K. tried to contact the Al-Qaida commanders in Waziristan for advice. One of the people he tried to contact but could not reach was none other than Al-Mauretani.

In addition to what Makanesi and Siddiqi told German and American intelligence most information available on al-Mauretani is believed to be rumors and unconfirmed reports by Arab intelligence agencies. Some sources say the Mauretanian Al-Qaida suspect had studied in Egypt and later left the country to join Bin Laden in Afghanistan. Others say al-Mauretani lived in Saudi-Arabia before coming to Waziristan and that he owned a football club there.